16 Tips and Statistics on Roofs Damaged by Hail

Dealing With Hail Damage To Your Roof

Most homeowners will experience hail damage to their roof and other exterior features of their home at some point in their life. The peak season for Atlantic hurricanes is just starting and frequently hurricane produced storms are accompanied by hail. Hail can happen any time of year.

Hail damage occurs most frequently in the Midwestern United States. Damage in excess of one billion dollars is not uncommon from one hail storm. Billions of hailstones can fall in a single hail storm and the majority of hailstones that fall are one inch in size or larger.

Your roof takes the biggest hit from hail storms. The roof has the largest area that is exposed to hail. Hail knocks off the protective granules that are in the shingles of your roof. This causes a shorter life time for your roof because the roof is exposed to more ultraviolet damage from the sun without the protection of the grit in the roofing. The excess ultraviolet exposure makes the rest of your shingles brittle and more susceptible to wear and degradation. A roof should last between ten and twenty-five years depending on the type of shingles and the area of the country that the home is in. Hail damage can shorten your roof’s useful lifetime by as much as 75 percent.

Hail also can produce enough damage to your roof that it leaks. Leaks can cost you thousands of dollars in repair and replacement costs. Mold can grow from a small leak and lead to huge structural damage that you may never see but the effects will appear in time. Mold is often the cause of allergies that can be severe and life threatening in some people especially children.

Minimizing Damage

You cannot control the weather but you can have an action plan that minimizes the amount of damage that hail may cause to your home and your wallet.

This is a simple idea. Make a plan to deal with hail damage if and when it occurs and follow that plan. You plan should include inspection, insurance contacts, and professional roofer contact.

The first thing you need to do after a hail storm is to inspect your roof and the exterior and interior of your home for damage. Look at your gutters and down spouts for hail damage because water leaks from gutters can cause structural damage. Look at siding as well because hail can cause siding to leak and produce unseen structural damage.

If you are physically able, inspect the shingles on your roof. Look for holes, broken shingles, and feel shingles in each part of your roof to determine how much grit was lost. You will most probably want to have this inspection done by a professional roofer because they have the equipment, insurance, licenses, and experience to do the inspection correctly and safely.

Check in your attic for leak caused by hail damage. If you do not have an attic, check inside in all upper level rooms for leaks.

You should also check your windows for damaged glass and safely remove the broken glass with gloves and cover the exposed areas in the windows with plastic sheeting to prevent further damage.

The next thing you need to do is call your insurance company. Let your agent know what happened and get an inspector and adjuster to give you their quotations for the hail damage as quickly as possible.

Call a professional roofer for repairs. A professional roofer may be able o help you get the most money from your insurance company by doing a roof inspection. A professional’s work can often speed up the adjusters and claims process when a large number of homes in the same area have suffered hail damage.

Another great idea when you call a professional roofer is to arrange for an annual roof inspection so that your roof stays in great condition all the time.

Hail can be a very costly. You just need to make a plan and get a roofer to help you recover from the damage.

Posted on Oct 01, 2013

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